Newsletter
Penn. moves toward whole-plant medical cannabis (Newsletter: April 10, 2018)
Trump admin accepting rescheduling comments; KY teachers voted to back medical cannabis, then reversed; High Times losses
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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW
The Trump administration officially began accepting online comments about whether marijuana should be rescheduled under international agreements.
A Pennsylvania advisory board voted to recommend approving medical cannabis sales in dry leaf or plant form, and to allow new qualifying conditions. Gov. Tom Wolf (D) tweeted, “Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program has been a great success but there is room for improvement, especially in terms of financial and administrative barriers for patients.”
/ FEDERAL
President Trump said his proposed Mexican border wall will “knock the hell out of the drug flow.” The administration also released a brief on actions it is taking concerning opioids.
U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) are pressing the Trump administration for an update on its efforts to implement recommendations from its opioids commission.
Arizona Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Deedra Abboud tweeted about a conversation she had with a marijuana business owner.
/ STATES
A key Maine Legislature committee approved a bill to implement marijuana legalization.
Maryland lawmakers gave final approval to legislation to expand medical cannabis business licensing.
The Missouri House Legislative Oversight Committee approved a medical cannabis bill.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) spoke about the state’s successful implementation of marijuana legalization. Separately, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jared Polis, currently a congressman, tweeted, “Safer alternatives to opioids like medical marijuana and other alternative pain management methods have proven to combat this crisis.” And regulators released a bulletin on marijuana business licensees’ participation in 4/20 events.
Connecticut Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joe Gamin, currently mayor of Bridgeport, is urging state lawmakers to legalize marijuana.
California regulators issued a bulletin about the looming expiration of temporary marijuana business licenses.
Oregon regulators will hold a public hearing on marijuana product integrity next week.
Here’s a look at how close Utah’s medical cannabis initiative is to qualifying for the ballot.
New Mexico lawmakers wrote an op-ed about medical cannabis’s potential to reduce opioid issues.
/ LOCAL
Here’s a look at local marijuana regulations in all 540 California city and county jurisdictions.
/ INTERNATIONAL
Antigua and Barbuda is considering legislation to allow medical cannabis cultivation.
The leader of the UK’s Liberal Democrats says legalizing marijuana would reduce violence.
The Border Policy Research Institute examines the unique implications of Canada’s marijuana legalization, which will create in Washington State “the first region along the Canada-U.S. border where there are contiguous jurisdictions with legal recreational cannabis markets that are bifurcated by an international boundary where cannabis is prohibited.”
/ ADVOCACY
It turns out the the Kentucky Education Association did vote in favor of endorsing medical cannabis, but later rescinded the vote in favor of a more general revenue generation measure to support pensions.
/ SCIENCE & HEALTH
A study of college students in Colorado found that “cannabis use increased since recreational legalization for all students, but more so for those over 21 years,” though “no differences in past month use frequency were found between pre- and post-legalization.” Also, “out-of-State students reported higher past 30-day use than in-State students.”
/ OPINION & ANALYSIS
A poll of Tennessee voters found that 37% support legalizing marijuana, 44% support medical cannabis and 16% say it should remain entirely illegal.
A survey found that 71% of New York physicians support legal medical cannabis, but also that most are not certified to recommend it.
/ BUSINESS
Hightimes Holding Corp. reportedly incurred a $13.6 million operating loss in 2017.
Tommy Chong and his son are being sued sued by Evergreen Licensing LLC, which alleges that they cut the company out of profits generated from a marketing plan to sell marijuana products and accessories.
The Wall Street Journal looks at marijuana delivery service Eaze’s challenges in dealing with difficult regulatory environments.
A scholarly paper proposes to harmonize cannabis taxation and enforcement by “plac[ing] the central portion of the marijuana supply chain on a private blockchain that is shared among the states” or by creating a “limited-purpose cryptotaxcurrency.”
/ CULTURE
Comedian Louie Anderson wrote in his new book that he’s “all for” marijuana legalization.
A number of former professional athletes will speak at a medical cannabis conference in Pittsburgh this week.
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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
